A shot of the cargo ramp at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi international airport, FedEx Express’ main hub in India. If you observe the photo correctly, there is something unusual about this photo. Don’t fully scroll down. Try to see only the photo and see if you can spot the feature? The answer is below the photograph. The line-up consists one …

Boeing has achieved a major milestone in the 737 MAX program, the re-engined upgrade of its best-selling 737 narrow-body jetliner. The Boeing 737 MAX -8 firm concept. Upgrade from the current 737-800 Explaining this milestone called ‘Firm Concept’, Beverly Wyse, vice president and general manager 737 program said “The program has achieved this development milestone by defining the significant changes …

Qatar Airways’ first Boeing 787 Dreamliner arrived at Doha earlier today and was mobbed by hundreds of VIPs, media, airline and airport staff. Video below the fold Qatar Airways is the first 787 operator in the middle-east with 60 aircraft on order for delivery in phases over the next few years. Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker, who was onboard …

Some more light hearted articles in the spirit of the Diwali holidays. On the night of 12 November, 2012, Jet Airways Boeing 737-800 VT-JGS was performing flight 9W-556 from Kochi, India to Doha, Qatar. Routing was via airway M300 waypoints IGAMA OSIRI NITIX MESAN LEMAX KADOL. The pilot attempts to radio in his AIREP informing Mumbai Radio that the flight …

India’s erstwhile civil aviation ministry has granted new international flying rights to both national carrier Air India, and private carriers Jet Airways and SpiceJet. First up is Air India, which received flying rights for  several new routes from its Delhi and Mumbai hubs. The Sydney and Melbourne rights give credence to the idea that Air India plans to begin operations …

Over the last week, foreign and Indian carriers alike have announced several interesting pieces of news around the Indian domestic and international networks. IndiGo India’s largest low cost carrier (LCC), IndiGo, will be adding one additional daily flight on each of Mumbai-Delhi and Mumbai-Hyderabad. The LCC will now operate 12 daily flights (except on Sundays) between Mumbai and Delhi, as …

One of the many Kingfisher aircraft stripped and left Financial beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines saw its second quarter revenue for fiscal year 2012~2013 plunge a massive 87% to just Rs. 200 crore (Rs. 2 billion) from almost Rs. 1,553 crore in the same quarter a year ago. The airline which has not operated a single flight since October 1, due to …

About three months ago, we reported, by a strange coincidence the aircraft registration numbers of India’s two largest airlines IndiGo and Jet Airways are in a very similar series. VT-JFx and VT-IFx. Last week, thanks to the operators of the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), M/s Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd., the members of the Aviation Photographers India were airside …

Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal quoted a report from the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) as saying that India’s largest publicly-traded low cost carrier (LCC), Chennai-based SpiceJet, was “is in advanced discussions to order 30-40 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, the Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation (CAPA) has said.” This report was then seized on by several outlets in …

Early in February 2009, Bangalore Aviation had advocated a strong “zero tolerance” approach to drunk passengers in Indian skies, specifically citing the case of Jitendra Kumar Mohla, a Chartered Accountant, and son of a former Air Commodore of the Indian Air Force, who boarded an IndiGo flight 6E-334 from Goa to New Delhi, in a drunk condition. Today, we are …

Malaysia Airlines will become a full member of the oneworld® alliance on Friday February 1, 2013. The national airline of Malaysia received clearance after successfully completing a review of its readiness conducted by its mentor, Qantas, along with the oneworld central team. Malaysia Airlines’ Airbus A380 superjumbo makes a high speed pass over the Farnborough air show 2012. Malaysia Airlines’ …

Late yesterday, Boeing, the world’s second largest commercial aircraft manufacturer by deliveries, reported its results for the 3rd quarter of calendar year 2012. The Seattle-based original equipment manufacturer(OEM) reported a net profit of $1.03 billion ($1.35 per share) on revenues of more than $20 billion. Revenues grew 13%  versus Q3 2011, driven primarily by a 28% growth in revenue at …

National carrier, Singapore Airlines (SIA) has announced that it will order 25 more widebody aircraft from Airbus, comprising five A380 super jumbos and 20 A350-900s. Singapore Airline was the launch customer of the A380 in 2007, and has received all of its ordered 19 aircraft. The airline operates these aircraft to ten destinations around the world from its Singapore hub. …

On Saturday India’s civil aviation minister Ajit Singh, announced that aviation regulator, the DGCA had suspended the operating permit of Kingfisher Airlines, after the carrier failed to respond to their show-cause notice. With mountains of unpaid debts, the airline has been on life-support for some time now. Unpaid employees have been striking since October 1, resulting in a suspension of …

Talk about irony. In March this year, Dr. Dinesh Keskar and Bangalore Aviation were discussing the double digit, yet profitless growth occurring in the Indian airline industry. Less than six months later, air traffic continues its fifth consecutive month of decline. Within, just the third calendar quarter, (second quarter of the fiscal year 2012~13), air traffic plunged over 11.5%, from …

Late last week, a report published in the Business Standard suggested that India’s erstwhile Ministry of Civil Aviation may finally loosen its rules governing Air Service Agreements (ASAs – or bilateral) by removing the aircraft type clauses from such agreements and restricting only seats,  frequencies, and route pairs allowed. What this means in effect, is that there would no longer …